Inbetween
by ChibiMilly
Summary: The Hive Five became short one member after Mother Mae Eye paid a visit. Then they had two new recruits before Kid Flash showed on the scene. What came inbetween these two events would become essential to this group of young thieves.
1. Chapter 1

It was much like leaving a baby on the steps of an orphanage. Couldn't take care of the child, had to leave them to someone who could, and hoped for the best of the child.

The main differences were that it was at a mental hospital, and the 'child' was someone most likely at least a decade older than them.

"Trashripping, streetlicking Titans…" Mumbled Gizmo, in futile protest. He crossed his arms as he sat on the bare concrete floor. Mammoth was doing heavy lifting of all their belongings onto multiple (stolen) trucks. See-More helped out with him. Jinx paced back and forth in what was becoming less and less of a living room, and would soon resemble something closer to an abandoned series of tunnels.

"They leave a cursed _pie_ here, instead of actually fighting us?" Jinx said, notably frustrated. "I thought something as underhanded as that was against some moral code or something."

"Not to mention made Private Hive lose his mind for good," See-More added, finding another box to carry out.

"Don't remind me." Jinx snorted. "Our team is down a member…"

"AND our base is compromised…" Gizmo cut in, fuming.

"…Right." Jinx put her hands on her hips, and stared at a vacant wall, where a big-screen TV used to be.

They all had to move, those were the facts. The Titans knew where their hideout was, they couldn't afford to stick around. Gizmo scoped out a new place suitable to call home, and the sooner they got everything moved in, the better.

As for actual supervillain work…that was on hold, for now. No thefts, no widespread destruction, no fighting the Titans. Not till they had a place to call home other than a jail cell.

And not until their group's numbers had been replenished.

"What're we gonna do now, Jinx?" See-More asked. Everyone had asked her that question lately, and if she was actually honest with her answers, she would have said she didn't really know. She was angry as all hell, and more than anything she wanted to find some other cursed piece of crap and stick the Titans with it. Preferably Beast Boy. Idiot would probably try to even eat it, she thought.

Angry though she was, she was also smart. She had to restrain herself, and kept that in mind.

So she replied to See-More with the following:

"One thing at a time. First, new base. Then we go from there."

Which meant: Get back to work, we don't even have a place to sleep right now.

See-More nodded, and carried a bag of kitchen utensils, next to Mammoth, who was hefting a couch out.

---

It took a week, but at Jinx's demands, the new home was set up. The essentials, anyway. Separate bedrooms, a place to eat, and a half-decent computer setup to work with. Gizmo was constantly anxious without a full-scale lab to work with. He tried to keep himself busy with his backpack computer, modifying his Spider Leg movement programming. Mammoth slept often. See-More would hit the streets, looking for things to make home feel more like…home.

Jinx spent a lot of time in the seat in front of a large computer screen, rapping out commands and records in rapid succession. She was putting together a series of profiles.

The step after getting a new home was strengthening the team again, after all.

"Who, who…who's reliable…and who would not drive me insane on the job…" She dug down into her lip with her front teeth, scrolling down the screen. Pictures and bios taken from Hive Academy.

She looked on with general disinterest, not caring for at least 90 percent of the potential candidates. A few here stood out, and she marked them down in her memory for later.

The scrolling hit a sudden stop as her index finger ceased to keep rolling down. She tapped it twice against the desk, and gave a faint, private smile.

"Maybe." She said to herself.


	2. Housing conditions

Housing hadn't been difficult for him, at least.

Wykkyd was laid out flat on a couch, with a heavy cherry red blanket providing that wonderful extra layer of warmth. Pale blue fingers reached out at nothing in sleep and feet kicked, looking for extra room.

It wasn't like the academy, but that was definitely a positive, as the academy was now nothing but rubble. It also wasn't exactly a devious lair for a supervillain to hatch a plot. That much was obvious by the old hardwood floor, Beatles posters, and boxes of chinese take-out spread out and about the minute apartment.

Most people would consider Wykkyd much of a supervillain either. The same would be considered of the person who gave him a place to sleep in the first place.

"Morning, Wykkyd." Came a light, wonderful, but tired voice from the apartment's only bedroom. "You awake yet?" Said the girl in yellow pajamas and rips in the back to make room for her wings.

Red eyes and messy hair peeked out from underneath the blanket. He blinked and yawned, answering her with a silent 'Barely'.

Kind yellow eyes responded, and she gave an apologetic but amused look, hoping she hadn't disturbed his sleep any. A shake of Wykkyd's head told her not to worry about it. A tilt of his eyes asked what was for breakfast.

"Whatever's left," Angel said, pushing open the fridge. "Chinese, Pizza, and your frozen snickers bars." She turned her lips to the side, wanting something a little more filling, and hopefully healthier. "We're low on cash…you up to knock over an ATM today?"

Wykkyd yawned a second time, nodding while he did so. The blankets were pushed off. The day was officially started, and he wouldn't get to lie in the comfort of his little home until it was finished. That was alright, though. Had to earn your keep.

Of course, he would not get to go back to this home. Not today, at the least.

---

Jinx was rolling it all over in her head, and her pen rolled back and forth on the bottom right corner of the paper.

She clicked her tongue, looking at each name, and notes scrawled next to them. There was a list of names. A very, very short list. It was originally longer, but furious scrawls blacked out any chance of recognizing the previous names.

Cheshire was talented, could improvise in a tight situation, great fighter, among other things. Problem was, Jinx didn't care much for the personality. A girl who might try to usurp her power? Not likely. Still, she kept the name there, as a possibility to replace the void left by Private Hive.

XL Terrestial? Not the best of powers, they already had Mammoth for strength…but he could be relied on as a teammate to do what's ordered, when ordered. Jinx kept him on the list too.

Punk Rocket. Jinx clicked her tongue, and soon crossed this name out too. He wasn't serious enough, and he couldn't be ordered around as easily, either. No use to her.

A handful of other former Hive Five academy members were listed. Negatives and positives to all of them. What remained the same is that she'd have to get in contact with them in the first place to whittle the list down at all.

Her fingers rapped against the table. Then she got up to find a phone.

---

Wykkyd was all too eager to feed his sweet tooth, caramel with chocolate layered on broken off. Angel stuck to a light salad with some chicken.

The ATM was easy enough. Wykkyd made it a cinch. He just reached in and took what he want. No need to bother with locks, hacking, or cutting it open. No one would even notice that it was robbed until an hour too late.

They were on the roof, Angel kicking her legs back and forth over the edge, Wykkyd lying back and devouring his candy. It was simple, peaceful. Happy.

They weren't in a relationship anymore – priorities changed after Hive Academy blew up – but that was okay.

Everything was okay now.

"What else you wanna do today? We've got enough to hold us over for awhile, so we might as well spend it." She said, optimistic, content. A quick robbery could do great things for a mood.

Wykkyd shrugged. He was okay with whatever she wanted. Red eyes, and that pale smile.

---

"Yeah, well I don't need YOU either!"

Jinx then cracked the plastic panelling of the phone rest. The phone wasn't free of damage either. Cheshire had dared to give her lip. She mumbled about how Cheshire would only dare give her shit over the phone, then crossed her arms.

There weren't many names lift to the list.

Not caring about any specific method to who to find, or when, she merely ran her finger down her handwritten list to the next name that wasn't crossed out.

She stared down at it, her lips pursed, thinking. Trying to remember more about him.

"…See-More got along well with him, didn't he?"

---

"Well, I think," Lettuce and chicken forked into her mouth, "We should get a movie. Not get a movie, see a movie. Kill some time until it's dark. Then see what's happening after 11 o'clock at night."

She turned sideways from the ledge, grinning, with her yellow eyes giving a relaxed glow.

"How does that sou-"

A generic ringtone. From downstairs, muted some by the distance.

"Hold on…" A small bounce over the ledge, and Angel floated down to the open window below, not caring who saw. It's not like she was enough of a big time villain to be recognized by anyone anyway.

Wykkyd sat up, crawling over to the edge and looking down, patiently waiting for her to come back and finish her sentence.

He didn't have to wait long. It was about 45 seconds before she was flying back up, slow, eyes doing a small dance of contemplation.

"Um, can't believe I'm saying this, but…"

She held the phone out at the mute boy.

"It's for you."


End file.
